Men's Hockey Falls 4-1 to No. 13 Cornell in Home Finale

PRINCETON, N.J. (2/22/14) - The Princeton men's hockey team posted a 4-1 loss to No. 13 Cornell in the home finale at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Senior Alec Rush scored on Senior Night but the Tigers couldn't recover from a three-goal deficit.

Cornell (14-7-5, 10-6-4 ECAC) grabbed a 2-0 lead after two periods of play thanks to two power-play goals

Brian Ferlin connected with Joel Lowry for the first goal at 8:33 of the first period. Lowry got the puck behind the goal and fed Ferlin in the slot. He shot past two defenders with a high shot over the blocker of netminder Sean Bonar.

Jacob MacDonald scored the second goal as he roofed a pass from Patrick McCarron after it found its way across the blue line. Joakim Ryan got the secondary assist as he shoveled the puck to McCarron before jumping off the bench and MacDonald jumping on.

With more than 10 minutes gone in the third period, the Big Red struck again. Clint Lewis snuck one past Bonar on a shot from the point with MacDonald and Cole Bardreau assisting.

Princeton pulled Bonar for the extra skater with a little more than three minutes in regulation. It paid off as Rush scored the extra attacker goal at 17:08. Senior Andrew Calof won a draw deep in the zone back to junior Aaron Ave at the left point. Ave circled and found Rush who fired through traffic to put the Tigers on the board.

Princeton continued to trade time between Bonar and the extra skater for the final 1:52 but John McCarron's empty-net goal at 18:19 pushed the game further out of reach.

Bonar finished his senior night with 35 saves. Andy Iles made 24 for the Big Red who outshot Princeton 39-25.

Cornell went 2 for 2 on the power play, while Princeton was 0 for 4.

Princeton (5-22, 4-16 ECAC) wraps up the regular season next weekend, Feb. 28 & March 1 at Clarkson at St. Lawrence.

The Tigers will be the No. 12 seed in the ECAC Tournament and will travel to the No. 6 seed for the first round series. That seed and site is yet to be determined.